Diesel fuel sounds like it may continue to rattle its way up the $4-plus a gallon ladder before the crude oil bubble bursts. “Maybe there’s a bubble somewhere in the commodities markets,” said AAA Idaho director of public and government affairs Dave Carlson. “I think some companies may be able to speculate ahead and buy their diesel at a lower rate, and obviously, it’s still going to have a great impact.”
Carlson said for the average diesel-fuel car owner, the price of diesel is something will have to be waited out.
Diesel averages $4.03 in the U.S. and $4.08 in Idaho down just slightly from record prices set in the past two days. Idaho’s average diesel price is 56 cents higher than a month ago and $1.20 more than a year ago.
Idaho’s average gasoline price, which has not fallen below $3 this year, climbed to $3.285 on Easter Sunday, up a tenth of cent higher than a record set May 28 of last year. Today’s $3.286 mark is up another tenth of a cent.
Carlson, who tracks prices, said higher crude oil pricing is forcing higher prices.
“The refineries are going to hit a point where it costs more to buy the crude than they can get out the actual product,” he said. “The demand at this time of the year is the lowest it ever is.”
Analysts say this year’s price run-ups are less about shortages of crude oil and higher demand, and more about the investment dollars speculators are pouring into commodities, including oil, to address their concerns about a weak U.S. dollar. Prices for crude oil fell more than $10 a barrel last week, after hitting a record $111.80 price on the New York Mercantile on Monday.
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